• Modified blades inspired by humpback whale flippers increases efficiency

  • Modified-blades-1.jpg
    Besides just eating a lot of tiny fish and laying around in the deep blue, whales these days are inspiring designers, helping them increase the efficiency of hydroelectric turbines. Naval Academy engineering professor, Mark Murray shows off a turbine blade modified and inspired by humpback whale flippers, with tubercles. These modified blades are a lot more effective than the normal ones with smooth edges, while functioning at low speeds. Also, these did not degrade in performance even at higher speeds. This makes the whole concept of generating energy from water force using turbines a lot more economical and efficient.


    The project is an undergraduate independent research study by Ensign Timothy Gruber from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s. We sure hope it helps give hydroelectricity a technology boost.
    [EnergyHarvestingJournal]

    Posted in Topics:Alternative Energy, Tags: , on December 9, 2010